DUMB: Witness fires gun as robber flees

This is a discussion on DUMB: Witness fires gun as robber flees within the In the News: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly forums, part of the The Back Porch category; Daily Tribune: Breaking news coverage for southeastern Oakland County, Michigan
Witness fires gun as robber flees
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 8:02 AM EDT
By Michael ...

MADISON HEIGHTS — Police seized a handgun from a witness to an armed robbery at a gas station early Monday after they say he fired several shots into the air as the robber fled in a car on West 12 Mile Road.

The thief got away with between $100 and $200 cash, police said.

"I can't recall us ever having a witness fire a gun before," said Madison Heights Police Lt. Corey Haines. "The witness had his weapon with him and fired six shots in the air. He said it was an attempt to get the robbery suspect to stop."

The witness, 35, told police he drove up to the Clark station, 601 W. 12 Mile Road about 2:15 a.m. and saw a man running away from the station.

He talked to the clerk inside the station and learned he had just been robbed, police said.

The Madison Heights man saw the robber run across 12 Mile Road to the Home Depot parking lot across the street, he told police.

Officers said the robber got into a dark colored Dodge, possibly a Sebring or Stratus, and drove west on 12 Mile with the lights off.

The witness, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, then fired the shots from his 9mm handgun, police said.

"What he did was very unsafe," Haines said. "We're continuing our investigation and will report the incident to the county gun board which oversees gun permits."

No one was injured and there was no damage from the fired

shots, Haines added.

Police said they are looking for the man who held up the gas station.

The suspect walked up to the counter with a bottle of water then put his hand in his shirt pocket, implying he had a gun, and told the clerk to put all the money from the register in a bag and give it to him, police said.

The clerk, 19, complied and the robber ordered him to lie on the floor before the robber fled the station, police said.

The man is described as black, about 30 years old, and wore a mustache, a brownish-gray hooded pull-over shirt and green shorts.

Police said the man left the water bottle on the counter and they are checking it for fingerprints.

Simple physics should tell someone this is a stupid idea. What goes up will come down, I have seen this personally with a bullet coming through our roof many years ago barley missing my Dad's shoulder.

Simple physics should tell someone this is a stupid idea. What goes up will come down, I have seen this personally with a bullet coming through our roof many years ago barley missing my Dad's shoulder.

Free falling bullets should reach terminal velocity when the air resistance equals the force/acceleration due to gravity. Unless the bullets were fired other than straight up the risk should not be much different than a medium sized hail stone. To comply with Physics..

Just remember that shot placement is much more important with what you carry than how big a bang you get with each trigger pull.www.ddchl.com
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Physics aside, why would this guy think that gun shots would cause a person to freeze and stop all motion?
When normal regular people hear gun shots they flee (!), to safety.
Not even dumb animals stand in place when they hear a gun shot. They run.

Free falling bullets should reach terminal velocity when the air resistance equals the force/acceleration due to gravity. Unless the bullets were fired other than straight up the risk should not be much different than a medium sized hail stone. To comply with Physics..

Hummmm...physics aside...lots of examples of people being killed from falling bullets.